This afternoon a juvenile Arctic Tern paid a brief visit to the Slurry Lagoon, as did a Yellow-legged Gull. Three Greenshank spent most of the afternoon there and there are now three Garganey. Two Clouded Yellows and a Painted Lady were also seen. PS.
All posts by Pete Smith
Garganey – 21st August
Early this afternoon there were two Garganey, six Snipe, four Ruff and three Green Sandpipers on the Slurry Lagoon. RW.
Clouded Yellow – 18th August
There were at least four Clouded Yellows on site this morning, along the Deep Pit bank facing the gravel pits. There were also three Brown Argus found and several other common species, as well as a variety of dragonflies. A Hobby was seen by the railway bridge. PS.
Clouded Yellow – 7th August
A Clouded Yellow butterfly was found this afternoon, by the river, near the railway bridge. SC.
Later a Vollucella inanis hoverfly was also found. PS.
Butterfly and Dragonfly Walks – 2013
The purpose of these walks is to help people to be more confident in identifying these insects on the site. Some people ignore the ‘brown’ and ‘white’ butterflies because they are not sure they can tell them apart. By the end of the walks most people are having a go as they learn the points to look out for. It is the same with the dragonflies and people were confidently separating Red-eyed from Small Red-eyed Damselflies once the differences were pointed out and both were seen together.
On the butterfly walks the sun was hot and there was a lot of butterfly and day-flying-moth activity. The ‘browns’ showed a considerable gain on last year with Ringlets being abundant as 75 were recorded, with 32 Meadow Browns.
Several moths identified rather carelessly as Six-spot Burnets were re-identified as Narrow-bordered Five Spot Burnets when somebody noticed a spot was missing. The Six-spot Burnets fly later, after the Five-spots have finished.
- Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet
More careful observation of the Small Skippers was rewarded by the discovery of a thriving colony of Essex Skippers. The two populations keeping to their own areas on the site, Essex on the Deep Pit bank, opposite the railway line and along the Causeway and Small Skippers around the dry end of the Slurry Lagoon.
- Essex Skipper
The second generation of Common Blues were only just beginning to fly, so the counts were low, but there are signs of a come back from the dismal numbers seen last year but, unfortunately, there was no sign of a recovery with Small Heath and Brown Argus, as none of these two species were seen.
The dragonfly walks were slightly less successful than the butterfly walks as several species were no longer flying and others had yet to get going. The Small Gravel Pit made the best showing with Red-eyed, Small Red-eyed, Emerald and Azure Damselflies being seen, along with Brown Hawker and Black-tailed Skimmer on the first walk. On the second walk the sky was overcast for much of the time and the wind was strong, so much smaller numbers of insects were seen but a Ruddy Darter was found by the Small Gravel Pit.
Whimbrel – 28th July
This morning a Whimbrel was heard calling as it flew over the site, towards Holme Pierrepont. There was a Common Sandpiper feeding along the edge of one of the tern platforms, much to the annoyance of the residents. The Dragonfly Walk was a mixed success as the weather was not very co-operative. Red-eyed and Small Red-eyed Damselflies were found on the Small Gravel Pit as well as a Ruddy Darter. PS.
Water Rail – 26th July
This afternoon, on the Slurry Lagoon, a Water Rail with two chicks was seen at the edge of the reed bed. There were also three Gadwall broods and a brood of Mallards. RW, JMD.
Little Gull – 24th July
At the end of the Dragonfly Walk the group were passing the Deep Pit when a Little Gull was seen picking insects from the water’s surface as it flew. It was flying with Common Terns but soon decided to fly higher in search of insect prey. For a while it was hawking insects above the site but then drifted away towards the east. There were three Little Egrets on the Wader Scrape, they flew across to the National Grid site but then returned to the Wader Scrape. On the Dragonfly Walk, eight species of Dragonfly and Damselfly were seen, including an Emerald Damselfly and both Red-eyed and Small Red-eyed Damselfly. PS.
Toadlets – 23rd July
The paths around the wet end of the Slurry Lagoon have been taken over by thousands of toadlets. At each step you see over a dozen of them jumping in all directions to escape, so please take extra care when using these paths. PS.
Black-tailed Godwit – 22nd July
This afternoon there was a Black-tailed Godwit and a Common Sandpiper on the Slurry Lagoon. RW.